Laptop fan needs a 'kickstart'

Bard

My laptop's fan stopped spinning today.

The guy in PC World suggested I sneakily open up the bottom of it and give it a kickstart by applying 3 volts to it somewhere.

I've no idea how to go about this.

... or even if it's a good idea.

Thing is, I really can't afford to be without it for the length of time it'll take to get it fixed under the Coverplan insurance. - that'd involve sending it off to England for 1 - 2 weeks... and as it should be a really simple fix, I'd like to tackle it meself if possible.

If only I knew how...

Can anyone help?

Gerry

A rather stupid suggestion, he had probably heard about "voltage" a few days ago in a ad on tv. Better would be to get some sort of implement in through the grill, and give the fan blade a bit of a push to start it.

Kali

Aye it could just be something stuck in it.. if that doesn't help, you're going to have to open it up and check the fans connections haven't come loose... which is simple enough, your Coverplan won't be affected by you opening the laptop up... only possibly the manufacturers warranty if its < 1 yr old (I don't know too much about this on laptops).. either way if the connections torn or sheared a replacement fan (~€10) should do the job.

Or you could also check the laptops BIOS.. it may have an option for turning on/off the system fan.

Personally I wouldn't go around sticking batteries and wires at your laptops innards, guy should be fired if he told you that (then again they all should)

Bard

An interesting IRC session ended with the conclusion that basically the fan is bollixed.

Thanks to Bubbles for talking me through testing the fan (and yes, I wired the fan up to a battery with disappointing results) as he watched via my web cam (connected to another PC)

It's basically a case of replacing the fan/heatsink unit.

Any suggestions on where to get it? €10 you say!!!

RicardoSmith

Get the model number of the fan from the back of it and then go hunting on the web for it. Or somewhere like peats or maplins maight stock it.

Bard

A friend of mine in a 'yellowpack' PC manufacturing company a bit down the road from my office is going to take a look at it tomorrow for me and he'll try to source a replacement fan/heatsink unit.

Bard

Well, as it has turned out, this laptop of mine is going to be making it's second trip to the PC Servicecall support centre in England on Friday.

I only bought the flaming thing at the end of January (this year). Needing to send it back for repairs TWICE in 10 months is a BAD thing indeed.